306 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



tractor, and we have by its aid succeeded in doub- 

 ling and even trebling our yield of honey. And 

 now, again, our brethren across the ocean have 

 sent us an apparatus that is of great value to the 

 bee-keeper. It is what I venture to name the wax 

 extractor, an apparatus devised by Prof. Gerster, of 

 Berne, in Switzerland, for the purpose of extract- 

 ing wax from the combs. While all bee-keepers 

 agree, that all nice, not too old, comb should be 

 saved, it will also be conceded that in an apiary of 

 some size and age, an amount of comb will continu- 

 ally accumulate that is only good for rendering into 

 wax. A bee-keeper whose main object in keeping 

 bees is profit will therefore need an apparatus for 

 rendering this wax, whenever he gets a supply of 

 combs no longer serviceable in the hives ; and it 

 becomes of great importance that the wax should 

 be extracted before the moths get hold of it, store it 

 with eggs, and a horde of troublesome and de- 

 structive millers are bred for future annoyance. 

 An apparatus should be had, too, by which all the 

 wax that can possibly be got out of very old combs 

 can be secured ; of a quality that will command the 

 highest market price. 



Such an apparatus we get in the one exhibited at 

 the Indianapolis Convention by my friend, A. Gray, 

 and which was handed over to me to be tested. My 

 wife, who usually has to do a large share of the 

 work connected with the straining of wax, and has 

 often complained, in former days, of having her 

 kitchen floor, stove, kettles, and pans bedaubed 

 with wax, is delighted with this new invention. She 

 can now with ease strain all the wax, without the 

 aid of any other person, and without being hindered 

 thereby in her other work. In cold weather, she 

 says, she will not need an extra stick of wood ; but 

 the greatest point of superiority is the utter impos- 

 sibility of the contents of the vessel boiling over, a 

 feature alone important enough to assure the 

 adoption of this mode of rendering wax. How oft- 

 en in former days, from momentary inattention, did 

 we find the boiling liquid Mowing over the stove 

 and down to the floor, a misadventure to which we 

 are not here exposed. 



The wax extracted by this apparatus is of the 

 brightest yellow color I have ever seen, even when 

 it is extracted from very old dark combs. It is free 

 from all resinous matter, and will doubtless bring 

 the highest price in the market. I am satisfied, too, 

 that the refuse is as clear of wax as we ever get it 

 by any other process, if tried till it stops running. 

 There is but one drawback connected with it. The 

 women say they do not get through with the ex- 

 tracting as speedily as when we used the cider- 

 press, by means of which three men could render 

 100 lbs. per day. When very old combs are to be 

 rendered, not over 20 lbs. can be extracted in one 

 day. But as the time when bees were brimstoned 

 and all their combs rendered into wax is now near- 

 ly over, and the chances for getting large quantities 

 of wax are thus gone or going by, I cheerfully rec- 

 ommend the wax extractor exhibited at the. India- 

 napolis Convention by Mr. Gray, as the next best 

 thing to the melextractor. A. Grimm. 



Jefferson, Wis. 



Friend Grimm has given pretty faithful- 

 ly, in his article, the good and bad points of 

 the machine. 



The basket, B, is made of perforated tin, 

 and it is into this that the pieces of comb, 



cappings, etc., are to be put, and allowed to 

 drain into a pan or some convenient vessel. 

 It is true, yon can put them into the ex- 

 tractor, honey and all, and the spout, D, 

 will deliver both wax and honey into the 



THE GERSTER WAX EXTRACTOR. 



pan or other vessel set to catch it, and when 

 the wax is cold, it may be lifted from the 

 honey below, in a solid cake ; but the honey 

 is then dark, and only fit for vinegar, or for 

 feeding bees. Whereas, if drained before 

 being subjected to heat, we get the very 

 best and nicest liquid honey, especially, if it 

 is cappings that are to be rendered ; be- 

 cause the honey that adheres to the cap- 

 pings, is always that which has been sealed 

 up. When the basket, B, is filled with 

 drained cappings, or bits of comb, the 

 cover of A is to be removed, and the basket 

 placed inside, resting on the fixed, shallow 

 pan, shown where the side is cut away. 

 This pan has three pieces fixed near its in- 

 side rim (only two of which are visible), to 

 support the basket a little distance from the 

 bottom, and the spout, D, is put into this 

 shallow dish, so as to take all the wax as it 

 falls from the perforated basket above. 

 Now to set the machine working, we have 

 only to supply steam around the basket. 

 We do this, by setting it over a pan or ket- 

 tle of boiling water, or what is better, a cop- 

 per bottomed steam generator, often sold 

 with the apparatus. The latter utensil will 

 do very well to catch the drippings of the 

 honey, if a cork is fitted tightly in the tube, 

 D. I would advise you to keep the cover 

 on and this tube corked at all times, if you 

 do not wish robber bees to learn that the 

 machine is almost always a nice place for 

 their depredations. If you do this, you can 

 keep it in the apiary, and throw every bit of 

 comb into it, as soon as found. 



If you will go back to Grimm's descrip- 

 tion, you will see that he calls the machine 

 slow, and says that his wife could not well 

 get out more than 20 lbs. a day. I think I 

 should put it at 50 lbs. or even more, but it 

 is not as rapid as the cider press he speaks 



